Consumers use nail polish to cosmetically enhance the appearance of their nails or protect the nails from the abuses found in their everyday environment. Often this requires a nail polish that is formulated to provide a good shine.
Consumers also desire a durable nail polish. Lack of durability is often evidenced by unsightly chipping or peeling of the coating soon after the original coating has been applied, requiring at least in part a reapplication of the coating in an attempt to recreate the aesthetic appearance or the therapeutic benefits of the original nail coating. Application and/or removal of more durable nail coatings is often very time consuming, requiring long cure times upon administration by skilled personnel leading to added costs for the consumer.
Modern, fast-paced consumers desire a nail polish topcoat with an easy application that dries rapidly. Fast-dry nail polish topcoat is generally achieved through the selection of volatile solvent system selection and introduction of specific film formers which can gives topcoat desirable properties such as fast-solvent releasing, high clarity, high gloss, durability, good adhesion and stability.
Selection of solvent package is critical to shorten the drying time of topcoat. Volatile solvents with high evaporation rate can be chosen for this purpose. However, the fast evaporation of solvents in nail polishes when applied to manicure or pedicure could lead to undesired properties such as streaking, air bubbling, hazing, and reduced gloss and adhesion. Further, some of solvents that evaporate quickly—toluene and acetone, for example—are toxic.
A number of efforts have been made to take advantage of appropriate solvent combination to achieve fast drying speed as well as high shine and long wear. Thus, a fast-drying nail polish topcoat that retains shine and long wear, is therefore highly desirable.